This invention relates to an apparatus for coding a signal representing moving images or pictures which is usable in various systems such as a video-telephone system or a conference television system.
European patent publication EP290085 and "Advances in Image Processing", SPIE Vol. 804, pp 385-394, 1987 disclose apparatuses for coding a signal representing moving images. These prior art apparatuses include a buffer memory storing code signals. In the prior art apparatuses, when the quantity of the code signals stored in the buffer memory exceeds a given quantity, the coding is suspended to prevent an increase in the quantity of the generated code signals. The suspension of the coding tends to cause a block distortion within a frame or an unsmooth motion of images represented by the code signals.